


Sunshine

by Capnslappin



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Everyone Loves Prompto Argentum, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Inappropriate Humor, M/M, Possessive Noctis Lucis Caelum, Prompto is oblivious, they're all dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 11:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17600801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capnslappin/pseuds/Capnslappin
Summary: Prompto was one of those people, he’d realized. The type of person you’d do anything to make smile or laugh or simply feel content. It’s almost akin to how he feels whenever he gets a grin from Noctis or one of Gladio’s boisterous laughs—the flutter of immense joy in seeing someone you care about be happy. He wanted that with Prompto, as well, thus began his campaign to worm his way into the blonde’s life as much as possible.-Or, Ignis has a crush on Prompto. Everything in his life falls apart from there.





	Sunshine

Prompto had boldly stumbled into their little world not even three years ago, but Ignis would be remiss to say that any of them would know what do without him. Between himself, Gladio, and Noctis was always the overarching sense of duty that was inescapable in their relationship. It was a matter of fact, their ties were only this well woven because of the crown, and there was always the fear that Noctis truly didn’t feel that he had friends in them because of that. But Prompto wasn’t bound by duty, he was simply there because he wanted to be. Not that Ignis or Gladio ever wanted to not be around, but it was that Prompto chose Noctis in the way that they could not. They were tied by friendship and common interests and overall enjoyment of being in the others’ presence. It was a breath of fresh air that was needed in Noctis’ life. The chance he never really had at being a teenager. And when Prompto let Gladio and Ignis into his small world, well, it was... something different than he’d ever experienced prior.   
  
Among things, Prompto is closed off. In all the years knowing him, he can count more times that the boy had shut down on him rather than open up. It was something that Ignis should have respected, but Prompto was one of those people, he’d realized. The type of person you’d do anything to make smile or laugh or simply feel content. It’s almost akin to how he feels whenever he gets a grin from Noctis or one of Gladio’s boisterous laughs—the flutter of immense joy in seeing someone you care about being happy. He wanted that with Prompto, as well, thus began his campaign to worm his way into the blonde’s life as much as possible.   
  
It took a year, and much more green curry and chocolate chip cookies and walks accompanied when Noctis was busy than he’d thought, but it was worth it. And now Prompto was, admittedly, the small ray of light in their lives that they all wanted to keep closely guarded. Mostly because there were more and more people that attempted to get close to Prompto as a bit to get to Noctis, and that wasn’t going to happen over their dead bodies, but also because with every person that faked being nice to Prompto made him curl further and further back into himself, far from how he was at first but too close to exactly that for comfort.

 

Perhaps that explained Noctis’ current actions better.

 

Ignis has been with Noctis almost his entire life. He’s seen all his worst moments, every pitfall the boy’s ever suffered and every triumph he’s had the pleasure of gaining. Perhaps more importantly, though, he has sat through nearly every temper tantrum. Now, almost seventeen years later from the day they met, Ignis is beginning to believe that Noctis has never grown out of his ‘mine’ phase.

 

Ignis sighed inwardly, no, they were still insanely childish acts. Noctis is an adult, an actual, fully grown person. He can act like it. He met the glare that was burrowing itself under his skin ever since Prompto sat down next to him to show off some pictures he took of a stray cat in his backyard. The prince’s eyes narrowed even more now that he had Ignis’ attention as if by slitting his eyes until they were closed was a viable way to communicate to Ignis the very loud and very obvious scream he was just barely holding back.

 

_ Back off. _

 

Ignis’ gaze passively flittered between Prompto, who at this point was nearly in his lap with how closely he sat, to the slouched, predatory stature of the prince.  _ Oh, this? _ He taunted the boy, smirking as he pulled his arm around Prompto’s slim waist. The blonde remained oblivious to the two of them, simply maneuvering to properly burrow into Ignis’ side and began to chatter about a little old woman who’d let him take pictures of her because her hat was, unquote,  _ literally the coolest, most debutante thing ever, you’d appreciate it, Iggy.  _ He rather did like it too, the shot itself was very well done—a glow from a nearly setting sun haloing the woman, intricate feathering played with the light expertly and the juxtaposition between the properness of her and the dingy bus reminded Ignis of a fashion shoot done in Gralea by Roen. It was one of Prompto’s better shots, but he’d been getting far better at photography since he’d started a class about it in school.

 

Ignis told him as much, and the utter joy that radiated off of Prompto was worth the near-growl of anger from the prince.

 

“Hey, Prom,” light blue eyes flitted from the camera screen to Noctis’ violet—now very  _ soft _ gaze, Ignis notes. “Can you show me that one? I think I forgot what it looked like.”

 

He plays it off terribly, sees through to the point of laughable, in Ignis’ opinion, but Prompto seems none the wiser as he detaches himself easily. The manic laughter Ignis had been holding back until then is let out when he sees Noctis’ next, decisive move.

 

Prompto moves to sit next to the prince, but quick arms pull the blonde into his lap. Noctis curls possessively close, head propping itself on the other’s shoulder to look down his nose at Ignis. The bespeckled man blinks in mild bewilderment as he takes in the scene, then he can’t contain himself.

 

“I-Iggy?” He can’t even answer Prompto’s rather distressed calls, almost hyperventilating between laughs, “Noctis something’s wrong with Ignis.”

 

Prompto attempts to get up, only for Noctis to tighten his arms and trap him on the loveseat. He lets out a noise akin to a squawk as he tries to free himself, “Noctis, let me go, there’s something wrong with Iggy! Noct!”

 

Ignis lets out another guffaw as Prompto wiggles up just enough to teeter forward over the arms, but the position means that Noctis is effectively holding the blond’s ass in his face and he quickly turns ten shades of red in such little time Ignis almost fears for his health. Almost. Noctis lets go in his shock, dropping Prompto across his lap and the floor—a position not much better than the last and serves to embarrass the prince more.

 

By the time Prompto’s scuttled up from his face-plant on the floor and to Ignis’ side in worry Gladio walks in with their take out, lost in the unfolding chaos.

 

\---

 

Ignis knows Noctis quite well, which is to say that he knows precisely how much the boy could take before he will, inevitably, explode. That is why he knows that Noctis is around three seconds from throwing something across the room once he enters his apartment without the need of any context.

 

He’s stalking the house, pacing from his room to the living room and back again like an animal. When he gets into the living room, he understands why very fast.

 

The credits of a movie were rolling across the flatscreen, the lights were dimmed, and Prompto was asleep. Which wasn’t strange. Prompto slept at Noctis’ apartment many times. What was unusual was the fact that he was positively sprawled across Gladio’s lap, and the larger man in question had also fallen asleep, and he was face-first in Prompto’s back with his arms spilling out in front of them. It was a cute sight, and when Noctis retreated from the living room again, he took the second to snap a photo of them on his phone. A keepsake for Prompto and blackmail for Gladio, should it ever reach the blond’s enthusiastic grips.

 

Then, he set down the ingredients for dinner in the kitchen and went about starting to cook. Tonight was Prompto’s favorite, partially due to the fact that he had admitted to Ignis in their group chat that he had been feeling rather down as of late and partly because he knew Noctis needed to eat something that had a vegetable count in it, since he’d been so kind as to neglect them for three nights in a row.

 

Once he had some of the hardier vegetables boiling in a pot, he went back to the living room to wake up the source of Noctis’ current ire.

 

Simply poking Gladio’s face twice did the job of stirring him up, yawning and pulling back from the most-likely awkward positioning. He yawned loudly, “Damn, how long was I out for?”

 

“Quite a bit, if His Highness has anything to say about it,” The corner of Ignis’ mouth twitched and he noticed the fleeting body of said prince disappear once more.

 

“How long has he been doing  _ that _ ?”

 

“I’m assuming since you fell asleep on Prompto.”

 

Gladio snorted, “Yeah, that’d do the trick.”

 

Together, they maneuver Prompto as gently as possible to a more comfortable position across the couch. The blonde sleeps nearly as heavy as Noctis, and the most he does under their hands is snuffle and burrow into the cushion. Ignis smiles at him, later he’ll press more questions on what was bothering Prompto and troubleshoot ways to deal that.

 

Noctis pokes his head around the corridor, and seemingly pleased with what he sees re-enters the living room with a throw blanket wrapped around him. He briskly passes Gladio and Ignis to lay down on top of Prompto, startling him awake with a quiet cry of, “Five more minutes”

 

The prince shushes him, wrapping his arms and the blanket around the other and stuffing his face into the curve of his neck, “Go back to sleep.”

 

Gladio casts Ignis a flabbergasted look. Ignis simply nods tiredly and returns to prepare their dinner. Ignis now just has to plan on figuring out what happened  _ much _ later, it seems.

 

—

 

The problem: a fellow student had begun making passes at Prompto, and despite what must have been a valiant amount of effort on Noct’s end to look like an angry guard dog at all times around Prompto, he has not stopped. Today, however, he touched Prom.

 

“Nothing crazy,” he assured, with a shaking hand bringing a chocolate chip cookie to his mouth, “Noct came before it got worse but—“

 

“Creep groped his ass,” Noctis interrupted, “if I didn’t know it would cause a huge political scandal, I’d have broken every bone I could get my hands on.”

 

Ignis feels quite the same. Though his methods of vindictive revenge do not involve physical torture, he does ensure that he will never be seen near any place Prompto visits again. To the two, this boy will disappear, and if Gladio begins to walk to the school entrance every time they come to pick Prompto up from his astronomy lecture than Ignis says nothing about it.

 

Prompto gains back his comfortability, and Noctis lays off. Mostly. The death glares whenever Gladio or Ignis smother the blonde in attention stop, at least.

 

—

 

Gladio is a handsy man. He’s second only to Noctis in his cling factor among the four of them. Perhaps it’s to do with the fact that his excitement is easily riled up at all times and he searches for something grounding to keep himself level-headed. Ignis could say that’s what he’s doing right now. He really could. But he’s inclined to think that there’s something else to it.

 

Gladio has a hand curled around Prompto’s hip, while his other is frantically motioning in reference to a scene they are describing as “ _ refreshing, _ ” and “ _ something for the genre to take note of _ .”

 

At once, Prompto gathers enough giddy energy to explode over the cuteness of the littlest character within the film, one hand gripping the bicep of the arm holding him, and the other entangling their fingers so that he can shake them wildly.

 

Ignis feels like his heart is going to burst at the sight of them, and Gladio is looking down at Prompto with an expression that is so entirely  _ fond _ it almost hurts. The blonde is dazzling, and Ignis understands where he must be getting lost in the other. The lilting giggle, the fumbling run-ons within his speech, the blush that’s set at the apple of his cheeks—he’s  _ precious _ . Ignis wants to hold him close, Ignis wants to see him be held close.

 

That idea suddenly comes to him as a shock.

 

He wants Prompto to be his, but almost as much, he wants Prompto to be  _ theirs _ .

 

He is their sunlight, their positive influence, their reminder to smile even when it’s hard, the apple of their collective eyes. Prompto meant too much to make a choice within the three of them as to who would pursue him. None of them would be happy.

 

Ignis glances back at Noctis, who’s stare had softened into a look of awe at the scene, a small smile playing at his lips. No envy, or anger, just simple wonder.

 

They could make it work.

 

—

 

Gladio is the one who pushes the idea that  _ three _ of them should have a  _ talk _ after Ignis initially forces him to admit that he had feelings for their friend. Ignis loathes talks, and despite the topic being one of the happiest things in his monotonous life, he’s not looking forward to this one. Or the work that will go into organizing. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily for Prompto’s anxiety, Gladio finds that the King is disposable for a small while (something Ignis assumes is actually a lie, His Majesty had more than once dropped all duties for a day to handle Noctis needing to work through his emotions with a figure more fatherly than friendly or clinical—and Ignis can only assume that is exactly what’s happening today) and they, for lack of better word, dump Prompto on him.

 

He, of course, fumbles once the idea is brought up, flushed and nervous and insecure that he’d be alone on the endeavor, and as much as Ignis finds his demeanor adorable he knows the blonde will need reassurance before being sent off.

 

Ignis stops him at the steps to the Citadel with a hand on his back, Prompto turns and Ignis is struck again at just how  _ ineffable _ he is. The sun is just drawing down and making a halo out of the blonde hair atop his head, a nervous blush is still staining high on his cheekbones, making his freckles stand out even more. The words Ignis had died on his tongue.

 

He wants to kiss Prompto there. The urge is all-consuming and only worsens when their eyes properly meet and Ignis is stunned at how  _ violet _ they are. His hand drifts up to his shoulder, then his cheek.

 

Blonde brows furrowed and he looked so cute,  _ so precious _ . At that moment, Ignis understood every one of Noctis’ attempts to make Gladio and Ignis stay away. Which is why they had to have their talk.

 

Instead of kissing his lips as Ignis wants, he chastely presses them to the crease on his forehead. “You’ll be fine, just be yourself and there will be no problem. His Majesty has never had a problem with you prior to now, I’m sure nothing will change today.”

 

The smile he gets back is radiant.

 

\--

 

Gladio had pondered awhile on what the best setting for the  _ talk _ would be, and Ignis allowed him to because, frankly, he’s too busy to be organizing shit like this right now. Even today, it will take a few late nights of work to catch up on all he’s missed. Handing over the reins only seemed logical.

 

He regrets all his choices immediately.

 

They’re at the parking lot for Kenny Crow’s and he almost,  _ almost _ puts his foot down. No _ , I refuse to eat here, Gladio--what the  _ fuck. He doesn’t though. He begrudgingly gets out of the car and walks in and gets a table because Noctis is excited to eat here and tittering that they should get Prompto something to go since his dad made him miss this and he’s happy. And if Noctis is happy, Ignis is happy.

 

They order the usual feast they do when they get here, a full round of appetizers and entrees for the three of them, only monetarily feasible because of the fact that they offer a  _ “Three for Thirty” _ . Once the waitress--a woman that Prompto had swooned over in the past for her many piercings and dyed hair and  _ blatant interest _ in him that made Ignis’ skin crawl--left, Gladio put on his serious face. A look that Ignis thought looked more constipated than ready for battle, but never had the heart to tell his longtime friend.

 

“So, this wasn’t a day we just decided to go to Kenny Crow’s because your dad stole Prom.”

 

“Oh, I figured.” Noctis said around his straw.

 

“What?” Ignis should have known not to underestimate his prince, the boy had always been too smart for his own good.

 

“I thought something was up the moment dad wanted to see Prom,” he grinned. “So, what’s wrong?”

 

Gladio seems to have lost any traction he mustered when bridging the topic, sputtering slightly under Noct’s keen stare. Ignis is the one to end their suffering, “Noctis, do you like Prompto?”

 

He promptly chokes on his soda. Gladio rushes to push napkins into Noct’s hands while Ignis wipes down the table. Subtly, their waitress comes by and drops a fresh pile for them to use, and Ignis’ respect for her increases by ten folds.

 

Once he had gathered himself again, Noctis squeaked out a “Why do you ask?”

 

Ignis waits for the other to stop drinking before he speaks again, “Because I’ve seen how you… interact with him. And the fact that you don’t like when we get close, to say. But we have a problem.”

 

“What’s the problem?”

 

“We like Prompto as well.” Gladio jumps in, voice cautious, but firm. “We have just been putting it to the side because, well. Y’know.”

 

Noctis looks between the two of them, “Because of me? You’re. What? You guys  _ like _ like him?”

 

Ignis butts his hand into his folded hands, “Noctis, you are twenty. You can use adult language.”

 

He nods, “You guys wanna fuck him?”

 

Ignis regrets his words choice immediately, going red in the face as he attempts to speak coherently, “That’s! Not… exactly what I was getting at.”

 

“I mean,” Gladio drawls, “I certainly wouldn’t say  _ no _ .”

 

“Gladiolus, oh my  _ gods _ .” This. This is why Ignis hates talks. But even though, he’s hit with a fondness for the other two that make a smile break across his face. “Yes, you children, Gladio and I have feelings for Prompto, which also include a sexual inclination. But that really isn’t the problem.”

 

“Then what is?”

 

Gladio reaches over, his large hand setting over Noct’s, “We all wanna date him Noct, and you’ve been kinda like an angry pitbull each time we try to get close. Just thought it’d at least be smart to talk this over, in case this could ruin our friendship.”

 

“Exactly,” Ignis reaches out his own hand, feeling the need to be connected to Noctis as well, “the last thing either of us wants is to make you feel betrayed or hurt if you want something other than what we are going to suggest. Our biggest priority is our friendship before going after a romantic inclination.”

 

He looks kingly for a moment, face hard and considering their words carefully, and Ignis takes those seconds to appreciate just what type of a man Noctis has grown into. Even if this doesn’t end well, or in their favor, he knows that Noct will be handling this like an adult. And that is all he can truly ask.

 

“Are you saying you  _ both _ want to date Prom?”

 

“Kinda?” Gladio looks to Ignis helplessly.

 

“We want  _ all _ of us to date Prompto.” He bites his lip, “We know how much you care for him, and as time goes on, it’s begun to get harder and harder to stop me from acting on my feelings. I’m unsure if Prompto would even  _ want _ to date all us, for all we know. Hell, I’m not even sure he’s not straight. I’ve only ever heard him obsess over women.”

 

Noctis laughs at that, “He’s overcompensating, actually. Prompto’s bi, he’s just so scared of anyone judging what kind of a man he is that he tries to fill in every ‘guy’s guy’ stereotype possible. And if it helps, he thinks you’re both really hot.”

 

“Blondie told you that?”

 

The prince looks embarrassed suddenly, “I might have brought up the hotness conversation, actually. But, yeah. He’s really hard to get to open up, and once he started talking with me about  _ that _ , and maybe dating you guys--it made me jealous, duh, but it made me more concerned.”

 

“Whatever would you be concerned about?”

 

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that… you guys have a lot more experience with stuff like that, and Prompto is just, like, sensitive? Insecure? He could get really hurt by you guys if you rejected him or treated him differently. That scared me.” He took a deep breath, “I would do anything to make sure Prompto is never hurt again by romance and all that shit.”

 

“Princess, you gotta know--”

 

“We’d never hurt him, Noctis. It’s the last thing we want in this world.” Ignis cast a glance to Gladio, “Sorry, I just.”

 

“It’s fine,” the Shield smiled gently, his free hand reaching to still Ignis’ jumping leg. “You’re okay. Plus, the whole talking thing is probably better if you do it.”

 

“You never were a talking kind of man,” Ignis chuckles. He looks back to Noctis, whose face is flooded with a myriad of emotions, but there’s a smile tugging at his lips and an expectant look to his eye and it gives Ignis the courage to continue onwards. “Noctis. I would like for the four of us to enter a relationship. Mostly centered around Prompto, but the care that I have for you and Gladiolus is something I know will grow similarly. I don’t think one of us choosing him will make any of us happy, but this. This can… work.”

 

Noctis nods through his speech, then breaks out into a wide grin. Ignis feels his stomach turn to mush. “I--I think I’d really like that, Iggy. I would really, really like that.”

 

The waitress comes with their food, a knowing smile playing at her lips, and Ignis can forgive her for being nosy, just this once. After all, now at least she knows to, as Noctis would put it,  _ back off _ .

 

\--

 

They make more plans over their food, of what kind of date they should take Prompto out on. Where he would like to go, what they should eat, what day is best. Ignis doesn’t check his schedule for what’s best, he can move that around later. Meetings can call for Ignis’ presence another day, his boys are more important.

 

Noctis makes good on his promise to order some fries before they hurry back to the Citadel to collect their sunshine.

 

\--

 

Unfortunately, they could not take the time to go see Prompto’s beloved Chocobos the Tuesday they planned to take him out for their date. Getting the ride out there approved is more paperwork that Ignis is in the mood to deal with. However, Noctis suggested that the second best thing was the aquarium. The aquarium, Ignis found out, was one of the easiest places he could possibly arrange their prince to visit. Baffling, until Gladio reminded him that they hold many political fundraisers there.

 

So the aquarium they went. Of course, under the guise that this was all a simple day out between friends. Because they were cowards.

 

The drive Ignis took to pick them all up from their houses was filled with tense glances, thankfully Prom was too excited about seeing sharks to notice their odd behavior.

 

And Prompto--the dorky, adorable being he was--actually had a themed outfit. A black button-down printed with little pink and blue sharks and a pair of matching pink skinny jeans that were possibly the most in-your-face color Ignis had ever seen, and very  _ Prompto _ . He even managed to force Noctis into a black graphic tee with a stingray on it. Then Gladio heard of their attempts to look as utterly dumb as possible when they went to pick him up, and swiftly went back into his house to swap his normal attire for a shirt that asked  _ ‘Got Sharks?’ _ and a pair of jeans. Ignis refused to join on their shenanigans, but he did dress far more relaxed, ditching his blazer and tie and rolling up his sleeves in a way that Noctis approved-- _ “It’s sexy,” _ were the exact words he used.

 

They looked ridiculous and  _ Gods _ , Ignis adored them.

 

There was hardly anyone there when they arrive, save for a small class trip from the local middle school, meaning around a dozen children rushed Noctis to ask for photos--which he timidly agreed to--before their teachers shooed them off, apologizing profusely.

 

Noctis laughed, “It’s fine, they’re just kids. If they were, like, teenagers? Then there would have been a  _ huge _ problem.”

 

The joke lands correctly and the teachers laugh as well, before bidding them a fun time and returning to push their flock toward the sea lions outside. Ignis feels unbearably proud of Noct, something like that a few years ago would have made him panic, but now he took the public in stride. He was growing into the shoes he had to fill perfectly.

 

Ignis walked over to them, wristbands in hand, “I also got a spot for the butterfly exhibit, if that’s something you’d like to do, Prompto?”

 

He squeals, “Oh my gosh, yeah! I wanna take a few pics of that big white one that looks like it has eyes on it.”

 

“That’s a moth, blondie.”

 

“What?” Prompto let Ignis turn him away from Gladio to wrap the wristband around over his normal one. “My life is a lie.”

 

“Mildly excessive,” Ignis subtly ran his hand down the side of the blonde’s. By some good grace the Astrals gifted him, Prompto actually reaches out to grasp his hand, tangling their fingers so he can pull Ignis toward the stingray petting area.

 

He turned back to smile helplessly at Noctis and Gladio, feeling a nervous mix between wanting to never let go and wanting to let go immediately so he could throw up in the nearest receptacle. Noctis was hardly holding back his own wide grin, rushing to catch up with them.

 

Gladio leaned in close once they made it to the stingrays--whereupon, Prompto let go to rush at the poor creatures and smother them in attention with Noctis--grinning widely, though Ignis saw a raw fear in his eyes, as he whispered, “I might be a bit early on this punch, but. Uh. Do we all tell him this is a date now, or after?”

 

He shared the Shield’s look, “Shit.”

 

Ignis spared a glance to Noctis and furtively tried to garner his attention away from keeping Prompto from simply swimming with the stingrays so that they could press this issue together. After a few moments, he finally notices.

 

_ ‘What?’ _ he mouths, and Ignis immediately hates everything.

 

_ ‘When should we tell Prompto?’ _

 

_ ‘What?’ _

 

_ ‘When should we tell Prompto.’ _

 

Noctis makes a face, then mouths,  _ ‘When should we sell the octo?’ _

 

The slap of his hand meeting his face resounds around the room, and his frustration erupts. “No, when should we ask out Prompto, you buffoon--”

 

Gladio’s hand slaps over his mouth. Noctis’ jaw drops. Hell, Ignis think that even the stingray are still, silently judging him for being the greatest fuck up in history.

 

Very, very slowly, Prompto turns to face him, totally agog. “What was that.”

 

The stutters and minute screams Ignis emits are still muffled by Gladio’s hand, and Noct takes pity on all of them and reins the conversation to focus on him.

 

“Prompto.” The blonde whips around to him. “We like you. A lot. This is a date. We just chickened out telling you it was.”

 

“This is a what!” Prompto looks between all of them with mild panic. “This is a date. That’s what you’re all saying right now. A date, with  _ all _ of you. Not like a double date? But a date where you are all taking me out?”

 

Gladio hum of agreement sounds higher pitched than Ignis thinks he’s ever heard him. “We, ah. Yep. Yeah.”

 

He reaches up to take the hand over his mouth off so he can say something,  _ anything _ to fix this irrevocable mess he’s made because this is it. Prompto is going to be frightened off by them and never come back. This is exactly what he feared.

 

“I--m, sorry.” Is all he gets out. He berates himself for it and goes again, but round two is worse. “Sh. We. I like--your face.”

 

Ah, yes.  _ ‘I like your face’ _ eloquent, real fucking good!

 

At the very least, it startles a laugh out of Prompto, who then continues to laugh for a full minute. He doubles over, arms wrapping around his stomach. Ignis feels his stomach drop and Gladio reaches out to steady himself by entwining their hands. Noctis recovers from the shock enough to be angry, “Hey, this isn’t funny!”

 

“It is though!” He says between giggles, “I’ve liked you guys since--since high school, and you! All! Are asking me out! I was so ready--”

 

He breathes in, and the laughter stops. The aquarium is this silent hum that makes the silence a little more insufferable. There’s nothing he can quite do now, they’re all waiting baited for Prompto, who fully rights himself to look up and between the three of them. “I was so ready,  _ so ready _ to just give up. Like, you guys have  _ no _ idea. I kept thinking you’d all find pretty wives and leave me behind because you’d have better stuff to do than wait around for some pleb, but--I’m wrong? Like completely. And you’re all waiting for me to catch the hint? You guys know I’m bad at that! You should have just told me!”

 

Ignis stares at Prompto in shock. “You. You’re saying yes?”

 

He giggles a little more, then reaches up quickly to swipe at his eyes, “Hell yeah! You guys are, like, my everything. There’s no one else I’d want to spend all my time with. You’ve had me whipped for a  _ while _ .”

 

Noctis moves first, tackling Prompto to the grimy ledge of the stingray petting area, teetering far too close to actually falling in that Gladio has to rush over to ensure they don’t. His bit to help quickly turns into him simply wrapping his arms around the two. Ignis crosses the room to join them, making eye contact with a stunned employee and having the decency to look embarrassed. They’re a mess, the four of them, but when he hears the little hum of happiness from Prompto when their hands meet and tangle among the wrap of arms, he thinks that there isn’t anywhere else he’d rather be.

 

Prompto pulls his face out from the crook of Noctis’ neck, “I really love all of us hugging but my back is wet a.f. right now and also breathing kinda hurts more than it normally does.”

 

They all laugh, and eventually get up, ignoring the ‘whoop’ of the employee who was very much watching them to preserve some ounce of their collective dignity. Ignis links his arm with Prompto, leading him away from Noctis, who was now arguing with Gladio over one throwing water at the other amidst getting up. Once they reach the attached exhibit about mollusks, there’s a large splash that makes of them both sigh.

 

“Darling,” he drawls, and the resulting blush Ignis receives is worth the embarrassment of having actually said it, “are the children playing in the stingray pool?”

 

Prompto peeks back and snorts loudly, “I wouldn’t call it playing, but yeah, sure.”

 

“We should probably leave before they kick us out, correct?”

 

“Oh yeah, definitely. You grab the big guy and I’ll get the soggy prince?”

 

“Deal.” Their date is ruined, yes, but they’ll make time for others, surely. Prompto always did have a way of bringing them all together after all.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hey, hope you guys liked this. this really... self-serving fic that no one asked for. these boys are so good and they deserve good things. eventually i'll get around to finish things that i actually have to get done, but for now, have this.


End file.
